One in particular is Microsoft’s launch of its WebsiteSpark program.  The program is geared toward small web design firms of ten or less employees and allows them to tap into the full resources of Microsoft for a mere $100 exit fee after program completion.  Website Spark not only puts you in touch with Microsoft’s network of partners and experts for training and sales leads, but it also gives you the opportunity to showcase your work in their marketing and networking events.  The real beauty of the program, however, is the free access and training for their full-featured software such as Expression, Silverlight, SQL Server, Windows Server, and Visual Studio.  That alone is a goldmine to any cash deprived start-up.

While Microsoft’s new effort certainly isn’t completely altruistic, it is well received.  They are looking to build brand loyalty that will translate into lifelong Microsoft customers and who could blame them.  I commend their efforts supporting the web design and development community and I can’t wait to see how the WebsiteSpark program graduates fair in the real world.  A new era of David and Goliath has been born.

(click to watch video)

Have your heard of any other tales of big business’ helping small business? If so, I’d love to hear them!  Just comment below or email me heather@glamajama.com

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Aronado Placencia, host of the popular web show StartupLucky, sat down with Amy “Queen of the Twitch” Cosper, Editor in Chief of Entrepreneur Magazine and asked just that.  Amy was incredibly generous with her time and schooled us all in the art of getting buzz from Entrepreneur Magazine.  Make sure you have your pad and pencil ready, there’s lots to learn.

Highlights from the StartupLucky exclusive interview:

How to Get Featured:

• Amy loves “twitches”: short and sweet Twitter pitches that leave her begging for more
• Email pitches need to be bulleted, 350 words or less, with a focus on storytelling
• Feel free to bribe (cookies & wine preferred) but it doesn’t guarantee a feature

How to Reach Startup Success:

• Your business plan/model needs to be explained in 3-4 sentences.  Elevator pitch longer than that? Try again.
• Don’t be afraid to adapt to a changing market, customer base, or upgrades in technology…true entrepreneurs evaluate, adapt, and thrive
• Don’t confuse Fearlessness with Recklessness, keep yourself in check

Need help with your business marketing, social media, or branding? Contact me here: http://su.pr/2GXnYX

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“you don’t know what you don’t know.”

Those past experiences are fresh on my mind as I find myself preaching about my golden rule on nearly a daily basis. As I consult with fellow entrepreneurs teaching them how to replicate my successes with branding, social media integration, and celebrity placements, I am heartsick. I hear countless stories of companies who have learned this costly lesson too late in the game. The “killer product launch” at a tradeshow that cost $30k that no one showed up for because the owner didn’t know how to contact the media or set appointments with key buyers. The “grand opening” in small town America that didn’t even make the neighborhood newsletter. Or the Mom that licensed her invention only to find that the company shelved the product and she had unwittingly relinquished her intellectual and distribution rights. I could go on. Knowing all of this, I can’t stress my golden rule enough. Please don’t make these same mistakes.

I know it might seem like an extra check to write when your bank account is already maxed out, but it will end up saving you money and heartache in the end. The money is there, you just need to re-allocate it. Instead of focusing your efforts on making a “big splash”, maybe focus on ensuring a return on investment? A solid marketing plan to leverage your event/news/product launch?  Or making sure all the legal and accounting issues are resolved so you actually get to keep your money?  Seek the help of professionals who have been there, done that.  After all, “you don’t know what you don’t know.”

Need help with your business? Contact me here: http://su.pr/2GXnYX

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So how do you monetize social media without creating a product line specifically for it?  Dell figured it out.  They are a great example of a company who actually engaged on Twitter and sold millions of dollars worth of computers as a direct result of those efforts.  (Dell article from Entrepreneur here)  I think their success was two-fold and actually quite basic.  First, they correctly targeted their customer and simply provided them with useful information.  Next, they implemented systems to monitor, measure, and manage customer service interactions.
(Great tips for handling customer service here.) These are great starting points and should serve as the foundation for any small business looking to incorporate social media in their marketing efforts.

While those are great steps for getting started in social media, it’s important that companies don’t stop there.  The real key to your success lies in your ability to actively engage that target demographic.  I urge you to roll up your sleeves a little and try some new strategies this year to finally get some ROI from social media.  To get you started, I’ve brainstormed a couple ideas below.

• Include a playful and creative flyer in outgoing packages encouraging participation and possibly offering a reward… “Be a sweetie! (attach some candy to the card) Post a pic of you wearing this t-shirt on our Fan Page and we’ll send you a $5 gift card.”
• Create a survey on Facebook or poll on Twitter (twtpoll) asking “friends” to vote on which new products to sell/create…the winning product will be offered to survey participants first, and at a discount. (See how Modcloth does this here)
• Track down recent customers on Facebook and “friend” them with your companies Facebook page (who doesn’t want more “friends”?)
• Spend money to make money…hire a Community Manager that will actually have the time to effectively target and engage new customers and strengthen your online branding. (Not sure what a Community Manager does? Read this by Chris Brogan.)

I truly believe social media is the future for small business marketing and I hope you can find at least one of these ideas helpful in your efforts to engage online.  Always be on the lookout for innovative new ideas to reach your customers and don’t be shy.  A sincere, heartfelt, and playful “hello” to your customers will be appreciated more times than not.  Just make sure you have the infrastructure in place to monitor, measure, and manage all those new customer interactions.

Need help with your social media campaign? Contact me directly here!

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Matt Cutts of Google posted this video to help explain the importance of their new Google Social Search…

So what does this mean for small business?

If you haven’t jumped in on the social media bandwagon yet, now is the time.  Customers and clients are using their blogs, tweets, facebook status updates, and more to talk about your brand.  (Don’t believe me? Watch this.) With the birth of social search, these conversations will now be mainstream for all of Google to see.  In other words, your customers will directly effect your Google search rankings.

Will Twitter be more business friendly in 2010?

Absolutely. Their real-time search collaboration is a big step in the right direction and Twitter isn’t stopping there. It has also launched a “Contributors” function (invitation only for now) which allows companies to have several authors send tweets under the same company profile. It is rumored that this may be one of the many new features in a “business class” Twitter account. These accounts would be part of an anticipated paid model launch in 2010. Also highly anticipated is the new emphasis on GeoAPI which will allow tweets to be seen with geo-location information. (Click here to read more.)

So what should you do?

Take advantage of this new opportunity to leverage social media in your favor by developing a listening strategy (read my post here for a how to), ensuring that your current web collateral can easily be shared socially (use AddThis or ShareThis buttons), and abandon spamming your marketing messages via your social networks in favor of developing mutually beneficial online relationships with key influencers in your industry.

Share your thoughts below in the comments! Are you using Twitter for Business?

Need help with your social media campaign? Contact me directly here!

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As the “royalty” status of Hollywood stars has risen, so has their effectiveness as key influencers in consumer purchasing behaviors. Celebrity product placement is considered an “influencer-marketing” approach for helping brands increase their competiveness in an increasingly crowded marketplace. Marketers and small business owners can harness that power through strategic product placement opportunities that have proven to garner national attention from the media, significantly increase sales, and provide additional revenue streams such as co-branded merchandise or licensing endorsements. I can vouch for this phenomenon from my personal experiences with marketing Glamajama. Many of our high profile media features and retailer relationships resulted soon after word of these much coveted celebrity sightings spread.

One of the great things about celebrity product placement or “product seeding” is that it is a relatively inexpensive strategy that can be implemented by anyone regardless of their company’s size. It doesn’t matter how big or small your brand is. The playing field is even. That being said, there are certainly do’s and don’ts for helping ensuring your efforts are effective.

Do’s:

• Make sure your pitch is on target: Always research to make sure you are pitching the right celebrity, the right product, and at the right time. For example, if you sell jewelry with birthstone gems search for celebrities that have worn similarly styled jewelry, have an upcoming birthday, and gift them jewelry with their birthstone. Include a personal message explaining the significance of the stone and why you selected it for them. Establishing a connection with the celebrity that resonates with them will help increase the odds they actually wear your product.
• Make it easy for celebrities to respond: Ultimately the end goal of any celebrity product placement is to receive some type of collateral that can be used in your marketing efforts. Examples of this “collateral” could be pictures, testimonials, thank you notes, video, or autographed products. When planning your celebrity outreach campaign, don’t just blindly send your product and “hope” for the best. If you want a hand written thank you note to display at your next tradeshow booth, include a self addressed/stamped thank you note for them to fill out.

Don’ts:

• A successful placement is the beginning of your marketing efforts, not the end: Don’t confuse a successful placement with successful completion of your celebrity marketing efforts. Receiving marketing collateral from a high profile celebrity isn’t nearly as important as how you leverage that placement. Ideally, once you receive a confirmation from the celebrity or perhaps a picture, send out a press release announcing the sighting, contact media outlets, and let your customers and audience know about the great news.
• Stand out so you don’t get lost in the shuffle: Celebrities are approached by hundreds of brands, companies, and services all hoping they can attract their attention. Improve your odds of being memorable by making your product stand out. This can mean sending a unique item, using creative packaging, or even including a heartfelt, sincere message. Brainstorm ways to help differentiate yourself as you strategize not only what product you send, but the delivery of that product as well. Merely sending your widget in a plain FedEx envelope with a bland “dear john” letter isn’t likely to get a second glance.

As the power of celebrity increases, product placements will become an increasingly valuable form of influencer marketing. Brands that can effectively harness that power are sure to gain an advantage in our crowded marketplace. Achieve star status for your brand by following these do’s and don’ts. For more information, visit www.celebritymarketing101.com , or feel free to email me heather@momscanlaunch.com.

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With over 70% of the economic experts expecting a last quarter uptick in the economy, now is the perfect time to start preparing for the extra business.  I am a big fan of using virtual assistants to help build out my team during peak seasons.  This is an especially useful business strategy in today’s market place.  One of the best lessons a recession can teach us is that in many circumstances variable costs beat fixed costs any day.  To survive the feast or famine rollercoaster of entrepreneurship, you need to make sure your expenses mimic those same ups and downs.

Benefits of Virtual Assistants

Adding virtual assistants to your workforce is a terrific way to turn a traditionally “fixed” expense, like payroll, into a more cash flow friendly variable expense.  Let me explain how it would work.  For example, most business advisers suggest that payroll expenses should average 20-30% of your sales.   This would mean that when sales are flush at $250,000/month that translates into payroll expenses of $50-75,000.  When sales hit a downturn at only $50,000/month, your payroll would then move back to a more manageable, $10-15,000.  As a business owner, how closely you adhere to this ratio means the difference between bleeding red and staying in the black.

Additional Benefits Include:

• No payroll taxes or employee benefit expenses
• No “on site” office space requirements
• No costly training programs when hiring experienced VA’s
• No long term commitment
• No morale draining lay offs during slow seasons

Understanding the Relationship

When considering virtual assistants to help manage business tasks, there are a couple considerations to keep in mind.   For starters, they are not your employee but independent contactors.  This means they will most likely have other tasks and deadlines on their schedule while they are working for you.  READ: They are on their clock- not yours.  Make sure you are respectful of time constraints and provide as much advanced notice of tasks, deadlines, and special circumstances as possible.  As with many business relationships, communication is critical.  You can’t blame a virtual assistant for not living up to your expectations if you never made those expectations clear.  In other words, don’t just say you need something “right away”, make sure you define “right away” as within two hours.

Getting Started

I also think it is wise to start slowly when building a new relationship with a virtual assistant.  For example, instead of requesting that they create a new website for you, start by having them update your blog template first.  As each task is completed satisfactorily, and communication strengthens, you can then proceed to larger and more complex tasks.  Also, be sure to discuss with potential VA’s their strengths and weaknesses to ensure the best experience possible.  If you are in the real estate field, consider searching for VA’s with backgrounds in real estate.  If you an entrepreneur looking for marketing help, be sure to search for VA’s with a background in marketing or who are currently active in social media.

Tips from an Experienced VA

For more tips, I turned to Dawn Martinello of Monday Morning VA.  As an experienced virtual assistant herself, she had some great insight to share.  She can be found at MondayMorningVA.

• Be sure to have an exit strategy.  Does your contract give you an out if you don’t mesh well?  This is especially important for first time clients.  For example, our services are non-refundable, but for first time clients we give a 7 day grace period in which they can bow out of the contract if they aren’t working well with their VA.
• When you’re considering outsourcing keep the price in mind.  My rule of thumb is that an entrepreneur shouldn’t be doing anything in their business that doesn’t earn them at least 2/3 of their regular rate.  That means if you’re a bookkeeper who charges $30.00 per hour, you should consider outsourcing anything that doesn’t earn you $20.00 per hour.  The reasoning behind this is that business people need to spend their time and energy on what generates revenue for them.  Spending 4 hours trying to update your website doesn’t earn a bookkeeper anything!

If you have never considered hiring a virtual assistant to build out your team, I strongly suggest taking a second look.  As technology continues to advance and better networking platforms are built, virtual work relationships will only become even easier.  A couple great places to start your search for virtual help include Guru.com, Freelance.com, RentACoder.com, or a simple “virtual assistant” search on Google.

Business Owners, feel free to leave any questions or experiences you would like to share in the comments. Virtual Assistants, be sure to leave any additional tips and your contact information including your area of expertise.

I’d love to hear your comments below and please be sure to follow me on www.twitter.com/glamajama! Want more DIY PR tips? Sign up here

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Image via CrunchBase

This is TERRIFIC NEWS and will undoubtedly help with SEO ranking, name recognition, and overall ease of use.  Instead of printing http://www.facebook.com/pages/Glamajama/46968453518 on your business cards to promote your social media presence on Facebook, you will now have the opportunity to use www.Facebook.com/Glamajama.  Much simpler!  This has been a popular request for Facebook connectors and I’m happy to see that the update is finally here.

The issue of name squatters has come up and Facebook is working hard to prevent any misuse.  To help businesses protect their trademarks, Facebook is allowing trademark holders to restrict use of their name by registering their requests here http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=username_rights .  If you don’t have your registration handy, just search http://www.uspto.gov for the number.

For more information read the Facebook Blog entry here http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=90316352130

Make sure you mark your calendars and I’d love to connect with you on Facebook while you’re there!  Join me here Glamajama.

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When you’re on a bootstrap marketing budget, you can never have too many friends in media.  If you don’t have those connections now, there’s still hope.  You just might be able to win a few new media friends with the social media darling, Twitter.  Twitter has been a favorite of the media and public relations professionals since its beginning back in 2006.  The quick, “cut to the chase” 140 micro blogging site is perfect for sending out quick editorial queries, source requests, or soliciting feedback on headlines.  I’ve put together some tips below to help you transform Twitter into the latest weapon in your PR arsenal.

How to Find the Media

One of the easiest ways to find relevant media contacts that cover your beat is to check their current publications.  With the rise of Twitter’s popularity many reporters, journalists, and bloggers are adding their twitter handles to their bylines.  If their twitter contact information isn’t listed, try a search on Twitter itself or one of the many search directories such as Twellow.  Another great resource for finding media on twitter is MediaonTwitter.  The directory is pretty self explanatory and includes a list of over 1,000 contacts from publications such as FOX News, USA Today, Business Week, and many other blogs, radio shows, and regional magazines both in the states and overseas.  With HARO’s Peter Shankman helping promote the list, you know it has to be good. (P.S. Make sure you’re signed up for that too!)

Making Contact

Once you have found contacts handling your beat, jump in there and “follow” them.  It’s also a great opportunity to send a quick tweet to say “Hi” and mention that you” liked their article on __________.”  Nothing overly gushy, but just a quick “Hey, I’m here and sincerely interested in what you have to say…” type of greeting.  If they respond, great!  If not, no big deal.  Either way, this is about building a relationship and not instant gratification.  You have along way to go if you want to “friend” a meaningful media contact.

How to Truly “Follow”

Once you start to gain momentum on Twitter, it can become hard to catch everyone’s tweets in your twitter stream.  This brings me to my love/hate relationship with Twitter.  I love the amazing access to people, information, and culture, but hate the overwhelming nature of it all.  To break it down into smaller portions, I rely heavily on “groups” in Tweetdeck.  This is the best tool I’ve found to ensure that I use my Twitter time productively.  Without these groups, the ADD sets in and I get caught up in all types of random rants, Etsy shopping, and web surfing.  I have a “PR” group that I use to follow all my media contacts.  The result is a perfectly edited tweet stream that allows me to keep up with all my “media friends”.  Check this group regularly and be sure to answer any questions, comment on posts they’ve written, or just mention you had a garden omelet for breakfast too.  Everything helps as you work to build the relationship.

Just remember that friendship should be a two-way street with you listening twice as much as you talk.  In other words, DO NOT spam media contacts repeatedly with self-promoting tweets.  If you do, I guarantee you’ll learn the true meaning of “fail whale” the hard way.

When to Pitch

The best time to pitch is when specifically asked.  For example, when a writer tweets they are looking for sources on “short selling in real estate”, be sure to let her know you’d be glad to answer any questions.  While this is the most obvious time to pitch, it isn’t necessarily the most common situation.  You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?  More likely, you will be the one initiating the pitch.  If done well, it has a good chance of being well received.  If done poorly, you’ll burn bridges and lose your newfound “friend.”  My best suggestion is to be sincere, concise, and informative.  For example, I sell baby clothes and often design pieces that are inspired by current events.  Recently, I designed some “Little Republican” and “Little Democrat” onesies to celebrate the upcoming election.

In this case, I would send this tweet, “Love ur article “ObamasSenseofStyle”! Election is great 4 biz, our political baby clothes r selling out! Wld love 2 share stats! link.bit.ly”

Please note that the tweet is only 140 characters.  This doesn’t give you much space to sell your story.  The key is to make sure your link seals the deal.  The link that I attach will have all the information regarding the product including a description illustrating the news worthy significance of the product, any celebrity fans or political figure customers, a downloadable 300 dpi picture, interesting customer testimonials, and maybe a counter showing which political party has the highest percent of sales.  Ideally, the goal is to include information that demonstrates the newsworthiness of the product.

Follow-Up for Your “Following”

As with anything in marketing, the follow-up is your key to success.  The same rule applies to your following strategy on Twitter.  If your @ replies go unanswered or if your pitch falls on deaf ears, don’t get discouraged.  Go ahead and send a little reminder if you don’t hear a response back in 24-36 hours.

To continue with my example, I might send the follow-up tweet, “Update! Obama may have style, but McCain has the most sales…Curious if this is an indicator for Election Day??? Is there an upset brewing?”

Regardless of what happens, stay vigilant, courteous, and helpful.  If you can’t help with a story, suggest a contact that might be a great source, re-tweet their posts, and be sure to take your interaction outside of Twitter.  This means commenting on their blogs, reading their books, and adding their blog to your personal blogs “blogroll.”  The more you understand their writing style and interests, the easier it will be for you to craft your pitches.

The Bottom Line

I hope you can see the value in adding Twitter to your PR arsenal.  As always, remember to be respectful of the media and stay on topic, concise, and informative when pitching.  Your good intentions will be rewarded.  Even if you don’t receive press from your intended media contact, you are greatly increasing you odds of being picked up elsewhere.  One of the many lessons I’ve learned in my endless pursuit for publicity is that Google can be your greatest ally.  Google never forgets, and it all but guarantees your publicity efforts won’t be forgotten either.

I’d love to hear your comments below and please be sure to follow me on www.twitter.com/glamajama! Want more DIY PR tips? Sign up here

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The loan is for amounts up to $35,000 and meant to be a short-term solution to stimulate cash flow. The goal of the ARC loan is get owners investing in their businesses again, instead of just scrapping by with their heads barely above water. The loan proceeds are systemically paid out over a period of six months and repayment does not begin until the last disbursement has been received. Repayments can be made for up to five years. The loans are available starting June 15^th, 2009 through September 10, 2010 or until the all the funding has been disbursed. The loans will be issued by commercial lenders and then backed by the SBA. The SBA will then pay the commercial lenders a monthly interest rate.

Ideal candidates will have a plan for future cash flow, a history of profitability in at least one of the business’s previous three years, and are no longer than 60 days past due on their current debt payments. The loan program is not available to start-ups, non-profits, or companies that can not prove viability.

This new program just might be the break many small business owners have been hoping for to get them back in control of their finances. For more information, visit http://www.sba.gov/recovery/arcloanprogram or contact your current SBA approved lender for application details.

I’d love to hear your comments below! Please be sure to follow me on www.twitter.com/glamajama and sign up for my newsletter at Moms Can Launch!

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